Circle of Life

I have been thinking a lot lately about the Circle of Life. Becca and I are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our little girl, Nadia Janelle Madison Jones. It has been a long process as many adoptions are to get to this point. We are so thankful for loving birthparents and a supportive church that will allow both of us to be home with our baby girl for the important early bonding. There is so much joy surrounding the birth of this baby. Becca and I move freely from unbridled excitement and giddiness to outright fear that we will be incapable parents. We ask ourselves almost daily, "What is she going to look like? Will she have curly hair or straight? Blonde hair or dark? What color will her eyes be? Will she like to cuddle? What will her personality be like? Will she like balls or dolls...or both? Will she like to be held? Can we do this? Are we really ready to be parents?" We find ourselves on pins and needles and jumping every time the phone rings or we hear "You've got mail!" Our bags are packed and we are ready to go. The car is loaded and the house is clean. All we need now is to get THE phone call. But, in the midst of all the excitement of preparing for a new life we also experience the grief of loss. Earlier this week Becca's "Gran" passed away. Recently, we had the privilege of celebrating her 92nd birthday at the Cracker Barrell! In Gran's last days she had a beautiful blanket made for Nadia. We got to see her one last time on Sunday and in a very sweet moment she took Becca's hands and voiced a wonderful prayer for Nadia's arrival and that she would grow strong and have a great and bountiful life. Every time someone new would walk in to her room she would ask, "Is Nadia here yet?" Not that she would get to see her but, it was as if Gran was waiting for her arrival. Gran had lived a wonderful long life. She was tired and ready to see Jesus and Pappy. Right to the very end Gran was calling the shots. Her daughters and other family members were around this week, but she waited until she was alone to breathe her last. To the very end she was protecting her girls. Gran you are a special woman and you will be missed by all. At Deacon's meeting this week Beth Mobley, who has recently lost her mother said, "Death is just as much a part of life as birth." How true that is. We will cherish the early moments that we have with our precious Nadia just as we cherish the last moments we had with Gran. My prayer for you and for us is that we will also cherish all the moments in between.

March Mission Madness

I apologize for the delay in getting these pictures posted. You can also go to http://www.marchmissionmadness.org/ to find a whole lot more! As you can see we enjoyed a tour around Athens as well as work and fellowship.

Slumdog Millionaire

How does Jamal answer the final question correctly?... I don't want to give anything away in regards to this movie. I will say that this movie fits well with what we have been talking about all year. Slumdog is rated "R." I would say the rating is for slight language, violence, and suggestive themes. Becca, Greg, Zihna, and I went to see this movie together. All of us agree that it is very well done. It is definitely not a "feel-good" movie. You don't walk out with a warm fuzzy feeling. During the movie you are lead into the slums of Mumbai by two brothers and an unlikely female companion. The story follows their life from a very young age through the pitfalls of slum life. At times it is difficult to watch what these children have to live through. The movie is based on the book "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup. The question remains, what do we do now? I wonder what the producers of the movie will do about the situations they filmed. Will proceeds from the movie go to lift some of these children and families out of poverty, slavery, and the sex trade? As we can only control our own actions perhaps a better question would be what are we going to do now as a result of our study this year and having seen this movie? This Fall our church will enter a stewardship campaign focused on Justice and Faith and how the two are intertwined. It has been asked why are we focusing so much on social justice issues (presumably at the expense of the "Jesus stuff"). My simple answer to that question is social justice is the Jesus stuff! The longer answer would fill more pages than I care to here, but it would involve the many scriptures from the Prophets, Psalms, the Gospels, and the Book of James that point us in the direction of taking care of those that God cares about, the brokenhearted, the orphans, and the widows, etc. Join us this Wednesday night as we begin the process of sponsoring children through Compassion International. Flood Begins at 6:00 with a snack supper and 6:30 for the worship experience. Pressing on! Andy